Thanks to a new “cool microchip”, producing computers may soon become cheaper and more environmentally friendly. The BBC reported this morning about a new technology that allows manufacturers to make computer chips at lower temperatures, which would decrease the amount of energy and resources currently used to make the chips.

Right now, microchips have to be heated to more than 1,000C. The new method uses an argon-filled UV lamp, which looks like a fluorescent tube. The tube “emits light from deep within the UV spectrum at a wavelength of 126 nanometres” to create the cooler power source.

The new technology, created by a team from University College London, has many implications for future products. Cool microchips could be used to make smart clothing, which could heat and cool itself or change colours. The technology could also be implemented in e-books’ paper and other electronics, as well.

Cool microchips have the possibility to become a major benefit to society. As the new chips make computer prices drop, the range of information and services computers provide will be open to a wider section of the world’s population. Also, the technology is a good move toward making computers less taxing on our environment.